The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for recognizing words, and more particularly, voice commands configured to execute certain actions.
Telephone systems have evolved quite considerably in recent times. Today, complex telephone stations connect to sophisticated switching systems to perform a wide range of different telecommunication functions. The typical modern-day telephone systems feature a panoply of different function buttons, including a button to place a conference call, a button to place a party on hold, a button to flash the receiver, a button to select different outside lines or extensions and buttons that can be programmed to automatically dial different frequently called numbers. Clearly, there is a practical limit to the number of buttons that may be included on the telephone device, and that limit is rapidly being approached.
It has been suggested that voice command recognitions systems may provide one solution for facilitating the use of telephone systems. Voice command recognition systems allow a user to input voice commands during a conversation to a telephone system. Upon recognition of the voice commands, certain actions for which the voice commands are configured are invoked. Such actions for which the voice commands are configured include telephone conferencing another person into the conversation, retrieving a telephone number during the conversation, or recording the telephone conversation, etc.
Voice command recognition systems generally process each word from beginning to end, including every syllable or sound fragment in each word. Consequently, voice command recognition systems generally consume a high degree of processing system resources when monitoring a variety of voice commands during a conversation. Due to the high degree of processing system resource consumption, monitoring a variety of voice commands during multiple conversations can prove to be a difficult task for most voice command recognition systems today.
A need therefore exists to provide an improved method and system for recognizing voice commands.